Silly Pride
by RomanticFollies
Summary: Kurt realizes his client is guilty while on the stand, leaving Diane confused and angry.
1. Chapter 1

**Silly Pride**

**Summery: **Kurt realizing a mistake at the worst time, cause trouble for Diane.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own these characters, sadly

**Rating: **K

* * *

In his whole career, Kurt McVeigh only had to step down from the stand twice. In a profession such as his, one's reputation meant just as much as one's knowledge. When entering a court room, one must do that with a clear conscience and strict moral values. Kurt did not believe in lying. He was not about to lie on the stand. His values simply would not allow him to do so, and, he would admit, his pride was very important to him. This was why he stuck to the general rule of only taking cases where the client was innocent, to save himself from lying. However, there were those rare and unfortunate times when he happened to be in the middle of questioning and would realize his client was guilty. To save anybody from embarrassment and keep his integrity in tacked, Kurt would interrupt the line of questioning and ask to step down. Thankfully he only had to do this only twice, but each time was quite difficult for everyone. Lawyers would be angry, the judge and jury would be left baffled by what he had done.

The first time it happened, Kurt was just starting out in his career. He was still having to go back to his college text books and old professors for advice when working on a case. At first, Kurt thought it was a simple case of his client being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The woman who was on trial explained her husband committed suicide with a gun to the head. After reviewing the photos and doing the math, Kurt came to the same conclusions. Then, he explained these deductions in front of almost thirty people on a very dreary April morning. During the trail, as it rained rather hard outside, the defense attorney was asking Kurt some very basic questions. He handed Kurt a photo of the blood splatter, asking him to explain what it meant.

As Kurt held the photo up and went into detail about the pattern and the distance of the blood, it then hit him. He paused, turning the photo around, analyzing it. It was dead silent as he did so, only the rain from outside hitting down on the court house. It was then, Kurt realized the very small, but extremely large problem. For the first time he noticed a few dots of blood, far away from the body. And the angle of the splatter was slightly unusual. It was at that unfortunate moment Kurt realized this gun was held by a second party and not suicide. His throat began to close up and the room suddenly felt stifling hot. He looked up at the defense attorney who was clearly confused and nervous as well. Quickly, Kurt excused himself, explaining he was unwell.

That was the second worst day of his life. The first was not until over twenty years later….

"Mr. McVeigh, could you please explain what is happening in this visual?" Diane stood very tall in her blue dress, one that Kurt had complimented her on only a few hours before.

"Yes, this blood splatter here shows that Mr. Donald's gun was shot in a close proximity. Now, when Mr. Hanes picked up this gun he had to have shot it by accent, killing himself. Mr. Donald was across the hall, in another room. There was no chance he could have shot the gun from over ten feet away."

"Thank you Mr. McVeigh," Diane smiled gently and took her seat once more.

"No problem."

"Mr. McVeigh," the defendant stood up, looking rather smug in Kurt's opinion. "Could you look at this picture," the man clicked a few buttons on the remote and soon a picture of Mr. Donald's gun was on the television screen. "What is this?"

"the murder weapon, Mr. Donald's gun."

"And how does one shoot this gun?"

"By taking off the safety lock, then pulling back the hammer, and pressing the trigger." As Kurt spoke he glanced over the picture once more, being sure he was correct.

"And you think Mr. Hanes did all that…by accident."

"Objection, your honor-" Unfortunately, Kurt cut Diane off before she could finish speaking.

"Your honor…I-may I have a ten minute break?"

"Well I-I suppose we can do with a break. Ten Minutes." Judge Abernathy seemed a bit curious, but did not hesitate to bang his gabble.

Very swiftly, Kurt stepped down from the stand, walking out of the court room, past a very baffled Diane. He went into the small conference room where his brief case was. All the analyzing and research for this case ran through his mind as Kurt searched through the different pictures and documents he had with him. At some point during this raid, Diane stormed into the room.

"Kurt, what was that?" She asked, growing angrier by the second.

"This," Kurt handed her the photo of the gun, similar to the one he had just seen a few moments ago.

"I don't understand."

"You see this line here, right by the trigger," It was very clear to him once he finally noticed it. The gun had not been cleaned in months, but a silver line ran right across the trigger and the barrel of the gun, "…there was pressure put there. Probably by a paperclip or rubber band. The gun was set to go off when someone meddled with it." He sounded calm, although Kurt was becoming very worried about what he will do with this evidence.

"You think our client booby-trapped his own gun, to murder Mr. Donald?" Diane did not look relieved or even slightly pleased with this. No, she looked upset. "So now what?"

"I'm going to have to tell the truth." He leaned against the table, as though to brace himself for the wrath he was about to hear from Diane.

"And then I'll lose the case and look like a fool?" She tossed the photo onto the table, not wanting to look at it. "I can't wait to hear the headlines. 'Diane Lockhart losing case because of her own fiancé.'"

"I'm on the stand, I can't lie-"

"No, you can't lie because your pride is bigger than the two of us combined," She ran her hand through her hair, pacing the room now. He tried to think of something to say. "The decisions you make impact me too...and not to mention the millions that Mr. Hanes brings into my firm."

"Of course I know that. I'm not trying to sabotage you, but you are defending a murderer." He wanted to say something, to calm her down, to realize telling the truth was the right thing to do, but at this moment it was probably best for him to shut up.

"It's already ruined for me anyway. Stepping down like that, the jury knows something is going on…and that look Judge Abernathy gave. God, I'm going to lose this case…"

"Diane you're over thinking this."

"No, I'm right on track with this," her cheeks flushed as she gave him a concerning look. "I have three weeks left. Three weeks and that judgeship will be mine. My record has to look perfect. Your silly pride cannot ruin this for me," She paused to take a breath, but was nowhere near done yelling at him, "I haven't lost a case in months and now I'm not about to lose because my fiancé had to save the world, leaving me looking like a fool!" She turned away from him, looking towards the wall as she tried to compose herself.

Kurt knew Diane was stressed, but never realized exactly how much she was holding in. The poor woman was working long hours and giving up so much for this judgeship, even having to fire her housekeeper. All the stress was building up inside of her, but finally she released all her tension. He felt terrible for being the straw that broke the camel's back, especially since they only had two minutes left.

Kurt did not say a word to her, too many words had already been said. No, he stayed silent, something he was rather good at. He came closer to Diane and wrapped his arm around her, turning her to face him, and pulling her into a hug. Kurt rubbed her back and shoulders gently. Already the tension on her muscles were beginning to relax. "We have to get back in there."

Diane nodded and straightened herself out, making it look like nothing ever happened. She was good at that. With Kurt by her side, the two walked back into the court room once more.

Things began to get situated once more while Kurt took his place back on the stand. As the judge allowed the prosecutor to continue his questioning, Kurt knew what he had to do.

"Right, well, Mr. McVeigh…we were talking about this gun."

"We were."

"Do you notice anything about this weapon?" the prosecutor brought the picture back onto the screen for Kurt to see, but his eyes were directly on Diane.

"Yes. There is a mark by the trigger, indicating there was pressure put on the gun so it would go off easily. If you look at the scene of the crime you will probably find a paper clip or rubber band. Someone wanted to kill Mr. Donald and make it look like an accident."

"Thank you Mr. McVeigh, that's all."

"You may step down then," the judge ordered. Kurt nodded and left the stand. He slowly walked by Diane, who would not dare look back at him. Even though he wanted to, Kurt did not leave the court house. He stayed in the conference room, cleaning up the document and pictures while he waited for Diane. It was another half hour, but soon she appeared.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't say that," Diane shook her head as she put her coat on. "Please, don't say you're sorry when you're not."

"I couldn't lie."

"You could have stayed quiet, for me." She walked over to Kurt, to grab her purse that was sitting on the table. He had no reply to that. She pulled her purse over her arm and started for the door. "I'll see you at home."

She was upset, it was understandable. He knew his pride and stubbornness would be tough for the both of them. It was one of the things he liked about himself, but also hated. Seeing Diane leave disappointed in him felt terrible, as though he was punched in the stomach. Nobody had ever left him with this feeling, only Diane could impact him in such a way. This time, he had no pride in what he did and realized that maybe this time telling the truth was the wrong thing to do. It was a very gray area, and Kurt hated anything that was not black and white. With another case to get started on, Kurt packed up his things, put on his coat, and left to his office to work.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

In her whole career, Diane only had two people step down from the stand in the middle of questioning. The first time was when she was first starting out as a lawyer. It was only her third case she was in charge of, and the first time she was in court by herself. Her nerves already had her on the edge, and the witness she was questioning caught her by surprise. Everything was fine at first. Diane was asking the young woman what she saw, who was holding the gun, and what the gun was pointing towards. The goal was to prove Diane's client was not the one holding the gun when it went off. However, the witness suddenly paused and became very pale. As Diane saw this reaction, she felt her face turn red. Her cheeks burning red as she filled with frustration and embarrassment. The woman asked to be excused, later explaining in private that it was in fact Diane's client who had shot the gun. She lost the case, her client went to jail, and Diane's boss gave her hell for a week for making such a mistake, for not checking the facts. That was the second worst day of her life.

The first was when Kurt excused himself from the stand. She thought she would fall out of her chair and die right there. Eli had explained to her multiple times how important it is that she watch her step over the next few months. Already she messed that up with her personal life, but she could not do the same with her work. Every business decision and case she took on was veered towards the judgeship. Somehow, she had won every case she took in the past three months, but now her winning streak was over. It really was not that terrible to lose this case, except for the fact it was her own fiancé who made her lose.

It made her angry, upset, and slightly confused as to why Kurt could not lie for her. The least he could have done was stayed quiet. She hated how much pride and honesty he had…but then again, she loved how much pride and honesty he had. After her performance in the conference room, Diane realized how silly she was acting.

After the uncomfortable trial, she went back to the office. At first, her rage helped her work through the rest of the day. Then, after a long day and thinking more about how terrible she acted, Diane called it a day and opened a bottle of wine. She became too humiliated to go home, but also too exhausted to continue working.

"Must have been a tough day." Before she even began pouring, Will was already at her door.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because that's a hundred dollar bottle of wine."

"Do you want some?"

"Please." He sat down on her couch with his hands out, waiting to receive his glass of wine like a child waiting for candy. "So tell me about the terrible day."

"We're going to lose the Hanes case…Kurt stepped down during the middle of his questioning," she sighed and sat down across from him. Diane pulled her legs close to her while explaining the earlier events, "he realized he was wrong and decided to change his testimony."

"Ouch. Oh well, I didn't like Hanes very much anyway."

Diane was not sure if she should laugh or cry. They lost millions today and yet Will could shrug it off so easily. Kurt was like that too, always relaxed.

"Since when did you become the cool one?" she asked before taking a sip of her wine.

"I've always been the cool one." As they shared a laugh, Diane could feel her shoulders loosening. They had not laughed together in weeks. Both of them were rushing from meetings to court and by the end of the day they barely had enough energy to drive home.

"I'm going to miss this, if everything works out." Diane looked down at her wine, wondering if this was the last time they would have a late night together.

"I'm sure you'll find some other young, handsome man to share a drink with you wherever you go," he smirked, making Diane laugh again.

"However none with your sense of sarcasm."

"Yeah, I think David Lee is rubbing off on me."

"Oh you poor soul," she smiled gently and glanced at her watch. "My god, it's almost ten."

"I know, long day. Even the janitors went home."

"I better do the same." Diane finished off the last bit of wine in her glass. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Remember we have a meeting at nine." Will stood up, taking her empty wine glass. "I got this."

"Thanks," she did not want to leave just yet, but Diane finally felt enough courage to face Kurt. She said goodnight to Will while pulling on her coat. The whole ride home, Diane rehearsed what she would say, how she would apologize to him for her outburst. Even as she walked into the apartment, the words 'I'm sorry' ran through her head over and over. However, as she continued to walk into the apartment, Diane began to wonder if Kurt was even home.

She walked through the kitchen and living room, hoping for a sign of life, but even Justice was nowhere to be found. Diane headed upstairs, suddenly hearing the voice of Bill O'Reilly filling her apartment. The moment she agreed to letting a tv in the bedroom, she highly regretted it. She pushed open the door to the bedroom and smiled gently, seeing Kurt still awake.

"Hey."

"Hey…you're still awake?"

"Yup."

She was ready to say how sorry she was, how ridiculous she acted, but instead Diane stepped out of her heels and, without even putting her pajamas on, crawled into bed next to him. Kurt's arm wrapped around her as she became more comfortable, laying there in silence as they watched Bill O'Reilly together. "What did you do today?"

"Started a new case."

"When did you get back?"

"Around eight."

"I'm sorry for calling your pride silly," she could hear him chuckle gently while still keeping her eyes on the television.

"Don't worry about it."

"I don't think we should work together again…too confusing."

"Agreed."

It was so strange how an embarrassing, emotional morning could turn into a calm, relaxing evening. No apologizes needed, no explanations or further arguing to be done. They both were thrown into an unfortunate event and somehow at the end of the day were able to forget about it. Now, they were able to focus on more important things, like how idiotic Bill O'Reilly's opinion on health care was.

**The End!**


End file.
